Football Dominates

It's the beginning of June... Well, its early-mid June... And while some of us are still deep in battle with fantasy baseball, it's almost hard not to notice that fantasy football is right around the corner. I couldn't help but to notice that Matt Berry and the crew from ESPN has already come out with fantasy football rankings and has even aired a fantasy football special. This was the last week in May and it made me think about how much love fantasy football gets while fantasy basketball and baseball are kind of left on the back burners.

I first noticed it when the fantasy football season was over and I started playing fantasy basketball. Due to my own negligence, I had drafted two fantasy basketball teams but I didn't really pay them too much attention to them until after the fantasy football season was over. Once I did turn my full attention to fantasy basketball, I noticed how there wasn't a flood of information on things like who to pick up, who's hot, and projections. If there was something about fantasy basketball, it consisted mostly of game recaps. Most of my strategy for fantasy basketball was based on stats, game results and keeping an eye on injuries. I ended up coming in second in one league and winning the other league.

Fantasy baseball wasn't too much different, but it did get a little more attention than fantasy basketball. There was a little more talk online about fantasy baseball than fantasy basketball, but not as much as fantasy football. My strategy in fantasy baseball has been similar to my strategy in fantasy basketball as far as just keeping up with stats and trends.

Even though baseball pioneered fantasy sports, football gets the most fantasy attention. I believe it has to do with the frequencies of the game. In football you have one game a week which allows fantasy experts more time to do more research and come up with projections and predictions. In baseball and basketball, they game is played everyday. There isn't much time for projections and predictions when the next game is tomorrow. This also affects the fantasy player. In football you have all week to set your lineup up. If there is something you don't like, someone gets injured, or you find out someone is not playing you have ample time to make an adjustment. If this happens in fantasy basketball or baseball, you have a minimum amount of time to tweak your lineup. In fantasy baseball and basketball, you have to be on it, consistently monitoring your team for last minute updates. You have to set your lineup everyday as opposed to every week like in fantasy football. You can't skip a day of not checking on your team without it having an impact on your team. I did myself just today by not benching Yasiel Puig. This discourages people from playing fantasy basketball and baseball because they may feel like it's too much maintenence, even though I know most of these players over manage their fantasy football teams. What I mean is they check their team about four times a day. Therefore, with less people playing fantasy basketball and baseball, there isn't a need of an influx of resources for these games.

Over the next few weeks, fantasy football is going to get bigger and bigger. They'll talk about it on social media, there will be draft parties, you'll get advertisements in your e-mail inbox, they'll even talk about it on SportsCenter. Even though fantasy baseball is still in season, you'll notice how much more attention fantasy football gets over fantasy baseball. When it all boils down to it, it's easier to watch 17 football games than it is to watch 82 basketball games or 162 baseball games.

Phantasy Resurrection

PhantasySteez came to life in late August with the beginning of the fantasy football season. It was young, fresh and full of ambition delivering compelling content on a consistent basis. Once football season was over, PhantasySteez got slowed down, like it was sick or something. The fantasy basketball season brought forth some good moments, but it was obvious that the Steez was dealing with a serious illness that affected quality and production. By the end of the fantasy basketball season, it was like PhantasySteez was on it's death bed, struggling to breathe. It produced one last entry about a month ago pertaining to fantasy baseball. That post promised more consistency and content, however nothing has come of it since, and PhantasySteez kinda... died.

It may seem that since the last post, the PhantasySteez has been put on the back burner. Personally, I've been trying to adjust to the new situations of living in Birmingham, Alabama. For the most part, my new job wears me out as I have to be there sometimes as early as 2:00 a.m. and even though I'm usually done by noon, I'm also usually extremely exhausted. While I rest, I often think about PhantasySteez and how it can grow. Right now, there really aren't any excuses as to why the Steez died because unlike when I was in California with no computer, I now have a laptop, which I'm using now, and a desktop which I haven't even turned on and I have sitting on the floor. I should be cranking out at least three posts a week... AT LEAST!!



I must resurrect PhantasySteez but now the question is how do I take on such a daunting task. Well, daunting is a major overstatement. The most obvious way is to write more. Next, I need to spruce up the page, put a little lipstick on her. No reason why that can't be done because like I said, I actually have a laptop now instead of just my Galaxy Note 3. Another tactic and very important is to increase my presence on social networking such as Facebook Twitter and of course Google+. Not to mention participating in forums and blogging communities. I also want to get into freelance writing. Mainly though, I need to keep writing.

Had to throw that in there

I got this fantasy baseball team called PhantasyKingz where my boy Victor is the co-manager and quite frankly I can generate a post everytime we talk. About 50 percent of our conversation is about the team, another 35 percent goes to other sports, and the other 15 percent is about actual stuff. You know, how are you doing? how's the fam? etcetera etcetera. Right now we're in 7th place in a 12-man league. I think our team is well rounded, but in the beginning of the season we we're only winning about half of the stat categories. We had two problems. First, our high draft picks, Hanley Ramirez, Yasiel Puig, Robinson Cano, got off to slow starts. Second, even though we're both fans of the games, neither one of us actually watch that much baseball. Lately though after making a few moves with our lineup, things have gotten better and I think we're on the right track. Our Achilles heel right now is stolen bases and I truly believe that if we can fix that I think we'll be alright.



Of course, I don't claim to be a fantasy expert so I'm always open to non-offensive suggestions. You can always comment on this blog. I can also be reached on Google+, my twitter is @donofalldons. Victor's twitter is @DonBryzii. My instagram is donspook. Holla at me, I got all those apps directly on my Note 3.

@donofalldons

40 Days of Phantasy Silence Broken

That barber killed my hairline

The last time I posted in this blog, it was about 40 days ago. Well today is actually the 40th day, but you get the point I'm trying to put out there right? It's been a very interesting 40 days in real life and on that PhantasySteez. Trust me, it isn't that I've lacked content or anything like that. I had plenty of excitement with my fantasy basketball squads, fantasy baseball and NCAA brackets, which I didn't do because I turned my brackets in too late. It's more of I've completed a major transition in a lot of areas. One of my mottos is "I'm trying to make my next move my best move." Most people wouldn't understand as in most cases, your best move may be unconventional to others outside of the situation. I relocated, and I'm not talking about moving like around the corner or anything like that. I moved to the other side of the country, Sweet Home Alabama. Yeah, talk about a major transition. I've been here for a week and I'm still trying to get adjusted to living in Roll Tide/Auburn nation. I'm still trying to find a decent barber who won't massacre my hairline like the guy did in that picture of me. However, deep down inside I feel like in the long run and for many different reasons, this move will be the most beneficial for my personal goals and for that PhantasySteez.

As of today...

Over the last 40 days, the PhantasySteez has seen a lot of interesting action. Let's start with fantasy basketball. Today is the last day of the season in Yahoo Fantasy Basketball and to my surprise, both of my teams are playing for the championship. In my main league, The Syndicate, I'm playing against no other than All the KING'S Men. And just like all season, she is kicking my ass. One thing I must point out in this matchup is Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, both of who are on my team. The Oklahoma City Thunder didn't play much this week. In fact, their first game of the week wasn't until Thursday. They had three days off, and I couldn't get any production from Durant and Westbrook. Meanwhile, All the KING'S Men was just racking up points. If you remember, LeBron James is on All the KING'S Men and while the Thunder were resting up, the Miami Heat played Monday and Wednesday. Also, Dwyane Wade didn't play in any of those games which meant more production the LeBron. The Heat played in 4 games this week while the Thunder only played in 3. I can't forget to mention that the rest of my guys decided to just play average. I think my depth at point guard killed me though as my rotation seems to be stuck because I really couldn't make any interesting lineup changes. I'm just gonna chalk this one up as a lost and settle for second place.

At least it looks like my other random team is going to win the championship, unless something weird happens by the end of today. Honestly, I can't tell you much about this team. Jamal Crawford and Wade have been injured so I didn't really have to change my lineup much. One thing I can say is somewhere within these 40 days I picked up D.J. Augustin and he has been a pleasant surprise. I was about to lose last week when Augustin went off for 33 points. That helped my team come from behind and land a spot in the championship round. Should I win, I'll be content, but winning the Syndicate would've been much more satisfying.

Last, but definitely not least, baseball season started last week. Originally during the last 40 days I wanted to do a preseason write up and talk about draft strategy and all that good stuff. I got caught up with this transition and working and linking up with certain people and plotting and scheming on the low. I got probably 3 different drafts of fantasy baseball content, but they never got done. I did however manage to draft a fantasy baseball team but of course not without some minor discrepancies. I wanted to make sure I drafted my team instead of using the ever non popular auto draft. The problem was I really didn't know anything about how to draft a fantasy baseball team, who should go first, when to draft pitchers, which positions where more important, just to name a few. I tried to get some advice and cooperation from my good friend Vic, but I had to remind myself that Vic likes those sleeper picks and most of the time I don't really agree with his draft style. Also, he wasn't playing fantasy baseball because he says it's to much work as baseball players play just about everyday. I tried to argue with him that it would be just like football because when football season is in, he's constantly managing his team, every day every hour. Only difference is you play everyday instead of just Sundays. He didn't do buy it and suggested that I purchase a fantasy baseball magazine.

After studying this magazine for a couple of days, I felt like I was ready to draft my first team. Not thinking at the moment, I scheduled to draft at 10:30 p.m. If you know me, you know I'm usually in bed at 9, so by the time the draft started I was really tired. I had the number 5 pick and I lasted the first 5 rounds, after that it was a wrap and unfortunately, the remainder of my team was auto drafted.

The next day when I woke up and reviewed my half-drafted team, I really didn't know how I felt about the team. My first pick was the reigning NL MVP Andrew McCutchen. My next two picks were Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander, the first two pitchers I drafted. I didn't know, and I still don't know if this was a good move or a bad move being that they both play for the same team. At fourth and fifth I picked Adrian Gonzalez and Matt Carpenter respectively, then I crashed. The first thing I noticed was that while I was wide asleep, auto draft picked up Aroldis Chapman. Chapman is one of the top closers in the league, but as we all know he took a line drive to the dome during the preseason. He'll be out for a minute, but he is expected to return around late May, possibly in June. Luckily, I didn't have to drop him and I was able to put him on the DL list. As Vic suggested, I picked up Francisco "K-Rod" Rodriguez has gotten a save for me and has an ERA of 0.00 in 2 innings pitched. Trevor Rosenthal has been my main closer though with 2 saves, 3 strikeouts and a 0.00 ERA also. As far as my batters go, I can't really say much right now. Honestly, I don't know who some of these guys are like Leonys Martin, Domonic Brown, Wilson Ramos (who I already had to replace due to injury) and Kendrys Morales, but it looks like my team should be well-rounded as far as getting points in every stat category.

Overall, I think this major transition will result in a very positive way for PhantasySteez. It give me a chance to get PhantasySteez to a different level by having more access to information and having the ability to network with other fantasy players/gurus. I look forward to the opportunities that my current situation presents. I must admit, this fantasy baseball season is very interesting as far as keeping up with players and strategizing, but in the end we'll see how this fantasy baseball season goes.

All the King's Men

This week should bring about a good matchup in my fantasy basketball league, the Syndicate. It's #1 vs. #2 as this week my WestCoast Lakers takes on All the KING's Men. Last time I wrote about this matchup she was in first place and I was in second. During that week she had some key injuries and I was able to slip past her to take claim to first. This week I don't expect it to be that simple.

Her lineup is beasting in most matchups this season. I see she picked up Rajon Rondo who was on the free agency until about a week after he came back. To compliment Rondo she also has Damian Lillard, John Wall and Trey Burke. Those are just her point guards as she also has Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, Andre Drummond, Blake Griffen, Greg Monroe and David Lee. I don't know if this can be an advantage or a weakness, but she has several players who play for the same team with Thompson, Iggy and Lee playing for the Golden State Warrior and Drummond and Monroe both playing for the Detroit Pistons. To me though, the main ingredient, the determining factor in this matchup is LeBron James, who is on her squad. James didn't play yesterday with a broken nose. Yet, he seemed absolutely fine shooting one handed threes from the bench in his suit Sunday. I'm not sure what's the standard injury time for a broken nose, but I couldn't imagine that it would keep him out all week.

Between the two of us, we own the top two players of fantasy basketball with James being on her team and Kevin Durant being on my team. It's no wonder why the two of us are just crushing the competition as these two players have dominated all season and one will be crowned MVP of the NBA. But just like there's a little bit of "controversy" with James, something I will need to watch when it comes to Durant this week also. Russell Westbrook was injured and while he was out Durant took full advantage. Durant stepped his game up in every way and pretty much carried the team on his back. Westbrook came back last Thursday and everyone is wondering how Durant will perform now with Westbrook back. I don't think it'll affect Durant too much. Durant won't have to take as many shots, but he already makes almost everything. If it does negatively affect Durant, I'm not worried because I purposely stashed Westbrook on my bench while he was injured specifically for when I play All the KING's Men.

Speaking of all the king's men, I'm glad I didn't listen to some people and tried to trade Dwyane Wade. During the first half of the season Wade didn't play every game. He would sit a game or two and when he did play he had average games but not Dwyane Wade type games. Recently however, Wade has been playing has been back to normal looking flashy averaging 20 points and 8 assists a game over the last week. If you have him, keep him. He'll definitely be a factor when the fantasy playoffs roll around.

A Trade That Effects My Teams

The over hyped trade deadline has passed and while no major moves were made, there was one move in particular that could have impact on my fantasy teams. Spencer Hawes has been traded from the Philadelphia 76ers to the Cleveland Cavaliers. I was hoping we could get him to come to the Lakers, but I guess that was just wishful thinking. The reason why this is interesting to me is because I have him on both of my fantasy basketball teams. I wonder how this move will effect him on the Phantasy Steez.

In my first league, the Syndicate, I picked up Hawes after missing the draft and feeling like a needed to pick up a center. In my random league I ended up drafting Hawes as a back up center. Even though Hawes' stat line isn't that impressive, to my surprise he has been a pretty good all around player from a fantasy point of view. He's averaging 13 points and 8 rebounds a game. Where his fantasy values comes from is his field goal percentage and the fact that he can hit the 3.

Hawe's is joining a very interesting Cleveland Cavaliers team. The Cavs have been pretty active during the season trading away Andrew Bynum for Luol Deng, and now with a new general manager he was itching to make a move before the trade deadline. Also, word on the street is the working environment in Cleveland is not ideal. The Cavs have Kyrie Irving, Luol Deng, and Dion Waiters, just to name a few. Hawes could have an immediate impact on this squad, but then you have to wonder what will happen between him and Anderson Varejao.

Varejao is having one of his better seasons this year averaging almost 9 points a game and 10 rebounds. He's owned in about 74% of Yahoo leagues. Right now he's injured but when he comes back he will resume the starting responsibilities. This could hurt Hawe's value directly as he will be going from a starter to an off the bench guy, not getting the minutes he's used to getting on the 76ers. Best case scenario would be if Mike Brown figured out how to utilize both of them, maybe by moving Hawes or Varejao to power forward. I don't know how long Varejao is going to be out, but I'm going to  have to come up with a back up plan just in case.

All Star Break Moves

There isn't another NBA game until Tuesday, so that gave my guys about four off days. My team sure could use it because I got four dudes, Mike Conley, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Martin and Andrew Bogut who are injured right now. Of the four, Conley is on the Can't Cut List. I wouldn't think about dropping or trading Westbrook. I'm feeling 50-50 ish on picking up someone for Martin. When it comes to Bogut, he might be getting the axe this All Star Weekend.

Bogut has been dependable for the few weeks I've had him on the team. However, since I picked him up I've been waiting for him to get injured, which he has. One advantage for Bogut is he leads my team in rebounding, probably why I picked him up in the first place. Martin has been dependable most of the season.  He's fourth in 3 pointers made and second in free throws made on my team. The rest of his stats are mediocre.

When I looked at the free agency list, two names stuck out to me immediately, Kyle Lowry and Robin Lopez. Both Lowry and Lopez have been pleasant surprises this season. In my opinion, neither one of these players should be in free agency as Lowry has become somewhat of a top point guard in the East and Lopez looks better than ever on his new team the Portland Trail Blazers.

I decided that I would take a closer look at these "injuries" of Martin and Bogut. Martin is going to be out for a couple of weeks and I probably could get more productivity dropping Martin and picking up Lowry. Actually that last sentecne is an understatement. I will get more production picking up Lowry for Martin. On my social networking sites I asked Kyle Lowry or Kevin Martin. I didn't get any response on Twitter but on Google+ it was an unanimous decision Lowry over Martin. So now I have Lowry on the squad.  I'm still struggling with releasing Bogut, the leading rebounder on my time. The problem is I haven't gotten any recent injury updates on Bogut. Even though Robin Lopez's scoring has improved,  Bogut has nearly 150 more boards than Lopez. I guess I'll keep him on the team for now, but he could end up getting moved before the end of the week.

Morning Glory? Not Exactly

I woke up early this morning, a little earlier than usual. As I thought about everything that was going on in my life, I felt good and confident. I felt like writing, but about what? I got on the bus on my way to work and I checked on my fantasy basketball teams so I could change my line ups when I noticed I lost in both of my leagues yesterday. In my main league I'm still in first place but in my random league I've fallen to second place.

The lost in my random league isn't that significant. I had a slim margin between myself and the person in second place. I won my matchup as far as winning the majority of stat categories, but with me only winning 5-4 and the person ahead of me winning 6-2, he took a one game lead over me.

The lost that interests me the most is the lost in The Syndicate. This lost was significant for two reasons. First, it is only my second lost of the season. Secondly, the lost was to one of the better players in the league. This was our third time playing each other this season in what I think have been epic battles. When the league first started and the draft was complete, I was fussing about David's Team because in my opinion he had one to the top 3 teams. I remember telling Big Mike that he had the Dream Team of Fantasy Basketball. What made matters worse was that I played him week 1. I wasn't too thrilled about playing him week 1, especially since I had missed the draft and my team was auto picked. To my surprise, it wasn't that bad. In fact, I ended up winning by just a few points. Crazy part about this victory was I was losing the whole week and I somehow managed to sneak up on him that Sunday.

The second time we matched up was week 8 and this time it was nothing like week one. I won the match by 241 points. There was two things that I can attribute to this win. First, I had Russell Westbrook in the lineup. As you all remember, Westbrook didn't play his first game until a few weeks after the start of the sesason and when he came back he was lighting it up. I didn't have Westbrook available the first time I matched up with David's Team. Secondly, Michael Carter-Williams got injured during the matchup for David's Team. I didn't really know who Carter-Williams, but I sure knew who he was after week 1.

Last week was somewhat similar to week 1. All week it was pretty much neck to neck. There were a few lead changes, but it remained close throughout the week. On Saturday I slept though. I was watching college basketball and sometime around 1:30 I decided to change my lineup for the day. I was too late because the Milwaukee Bucks were already playing and I had Brandon Knight on the bench. I believe this was a critical mistake because my other two players on the bench, Mike Conley and Westbrook, are injured and I needed to start as many players as I could. Sunday morning I was down by a few points and even though I had Kevin Durant, who went for 41 points yesterday, it wasn't enough. Durant did his job, but Rudy Gay and Spencer Hawes didn't show up... especially Hawes as we witnessed Blake Griffen hold his own slam dunk contest against the Philadelphia 76ers.

So, right now I'm down but I'm not out. I'm still holding down the #1 spot for now, but I know real soon imma have another matchup with All the Kings Men. On the bright side though, I play Big Mike this week. Perfect matchup to bounce back from a defeat...